As microelectronic technology advances for higher performance, microelectronic packaging substrates require increased adhesion of materials, such as copper adhesion within microvia structures. Semi-additive processing may be used to build up the copper/conductive layers that may be separated by insulating/dielectric materials within the package substrate. In some cases, electro-less deposition processing may be used to build up copper/conductive layers. Electro-less deposition typically requires roughening of underlying dielectric materials, which is an impediment to the use of low loss dielectric materials, which are important for continued improvement of substrate performance.